Starcher still seeking answers in daughter’s death

March 22, 2013

PARKERSBURG - Moe Starcher has been waiting for more than 10 years for answers related to the disappearance and death of his daughter, Christian Dawn Starcher Seabolt.

She disappeared in 2002. Her remains were discovered seven years later. To date no one has been charged in her death. Law enforcement officials state the investigation is still on-going. They have released little information on the case and, according to Starcher, still have her remains.

"It's been three years. I don't understand why she's being kept," he said. "Her remains are just sitting up there."

Article Photos

Photo courtesy of Moe StarcherChristian Dawn Starcher Seabolt a few weeks before her disappearance. The 18-year-old Spencer woman was last seen Aug. 31, 2002, when she went out for a pack of cigarettes. Her remains were discovered in December 2009 on Groundhog Ridge, near Creston, along the Wirt-Roane County border. More than 10 years after she was last seen, the family still seeking answers.

Starcher claims investigators at the Smithsonian filed a report stating Seabolt's body could not be used to assist the investigation.

"If they can't use it, why are they putting us through this," he asked. "Let us put her to rest and get started on some sort of closure."

Starcher filed a lawsuit in 2012 in Kanawha County Circuit Court against the West Virginia State Police, the Roane County 911 Center and the city of Spencer.

He is seeking to compel authorities to release documents related to Seabolt's death and investigation. So far, Starcher said he's heard nothing from the courts with regard to his suit. A hearing has been set for the fall.

Starcher is also hoping to speak with Alex "Tattoo Vince" Golosow, an inmate at St. Marys Correctional Center. Golosow met recently with The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. He disavows any involvement with Seabolt's disappearance and death. Golosow maintains he has knowledge of Seabolt's death, but declined to share it with the newspaper. Golosow said it would come back on him, leading police to believe he's either the killer, knew the killer or moved the body.

Golosow, 58, said Seabolt was a nice girl. He repeatedly denied any relationship with the 18-year-old, noting she was young enough to be his daughter. He acknowledged Seabolt used to come around his house.

Sometime after Seabolt went missing, Judd Reid, a friend to hers and Golosow, was murdered. Golosow was convicted of Reid's murder in 2004. Golosow, who claims he's innocent of Reid's murder, is also considered a person of interest in Seabolt's case by law enforcement officials.

Starcher thinks his daughter was murdered for attempting to report police corruption. He points to rumors of drug-related law enforcement corruption in the area. His daughter's claims did not sit well within the law enforcement community, Starcher said.

"What I was told before she came up missing and what I believe to this day: There were some dirty cops in Clay County. It's not something that is privately known by a few. It is well known by many."

"How far that goes I don't know."

Starcher claims a 911 call was made the day Seabolt disappeared. Officials said the 911 call to which Starcher refers was not made by his daughter. Officials are working with Starcher to allow him to listen to the recording. Starcher believes the recording the state police will allow provide is not the call his daughter made.

"They could have dug any recording out," he said.

"I was told by a state police officer that there is a phone call and it was my daughter and now it doesn't exist. Where does that leave me?"

"I think when (Golosow) said I was on the right track, referring to police corruption, he's right on that," he added.

Starcher referred to a fictional crime novel, "Murder Mountain" written by Ohio police officer, Stacy Dittrich. The fictional novel is based on drug-related events in Clay and Roane counties.

Starcher has heard all the stories related to his daughter's death.

"They cut her up and fed her to hogs and ground her into hamburger... You don't forget those kind of stories. you never live it down," he said.

Starcher is tired of the stories and would like to get to the truth.

A lot has changed since his daughter disappeared, he said, including law enforcement officials.

Starcher said he's not been in contact with local law enforcement officials for some time. When West Virginia State Police Trooper J.M. Bragg took over the Spencer detachment Starcher said they spoke, and Bragg pledged to keep him informed.

I believe that he is working on it," Starcher said. "There are rumors he's visited a few people at their homes."

Bragg previously told The News and Sentinel the case was heating up.

Starcher said he doesn't think Golosow killed his daughter.

"He knows what happened to her, but he's not the one I personally believe killed her."